Employing consumer intelligence in promotions

Abstract

Tools for improving interactions between promoters and consumers of products. These tools can enable promoters of products to employ more effective promotional programs, and consumers to receive promotional information about products of interest, while avoiding the excessive overload of information about promotions that are not of interest. Some such tools can enhance consumer satisfaction with—and, correspondingly, consumer participation in—promotional programs by allowing consumers to tailor the discount programs to their preferences, by analyzing consumer behavior and tailoring promotions accordingly, and/or by providing cross promotions of complementary products. Some of the tools can provide substantial savings, in both costs and natural resources, as well as provide a more satisfying experience for consumers, by substantially reducing, or even eliminating, excessive use of paper for promotional programs and transaction receipts.

1 . A method of facilitating distribution of promotional information for a merchant, the method comprising:
 providing a computer user interface for interacting with a user;   providing, via the computer user interface, a mechanism for the user to describe a promotional offer;   receiving, via the computer user interface, first user input comprising information describing the promotional offer;   creating, in a database, a first promotional offer record comprising at least some of the information describing the promotional offer;   identifying, in the database, a set of one or more promotional offer records, the set of promotional offer records comprising the first promotional offer record;   displaying, via the computer user interface, a list of the one or more promotional offer records;   providing, via the computer user interface, a mechanism for the user to manage the list of the one or more promotional offer records;   storing, in the database, information about consumer behavior with respect to one or more promotional offers;   receiving, via the computer user interface, third user input comprising redemption information about a first promotional offer;   updating, in the database, the information about consumer behavior with respect to the first promotional offer.   displaying, via the computer user interface, a data dashboard that provides information about consumer behavior with respect to the one or more promotional offers;   receiving, via the computer user interface, second user input comprising a request to view a detailed report about consumer behavior with respect to the one or more promotional offers; and   providing the requested detailed report.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving user input for selecting a promotional offer record to edit;   providing, via the computer user interface, a mechanism for the user to edit the selected promotional offer record;   receiving user input comprising modified information for the selected promotional offer record; and   updating the selected promotional offer record with the modified information.   
     
     
         3 . A computer system for facilitating distribution of promotional information for a merchant, the computer system comprising:
 a processor an a computer readable medium in communication with the processor, the computer readable medium comprising a set of instructions that are executable by the computer system to perform one or more operations, the set of instructions comprising:
 instructions for providing a computer user interface for interacting with a user; 
 instructions for providing, via the computer user interface, a mechanism for the user to describe a promotional offer; 
 instructions for receiving, via the computer user interface, first user input comprising information describing the promotional offer; 
 instructions for creating, in a database, a first promotional offer record comprising at least some of the information describing the promotional offer; 
 instructions for identifying, in the database, a set of one or more promotional offer records, the set of promotional offer records comprising the first promotional offer record; 
 instructions for displaying, via the computer user interface, a list of the one or more promotional offer records; 
 instructions for providing, via the computer user interface, a mechanism for the user to manage the list of the one or more promotional offer records; 
 instructions for storing, in the database, information about consumer behavior with respect to one or more promotional offers; 
 instructions for receiving, via the computer user interface, third user input comprising redemption information about a first promotional offer; 
 instructions for updating, in the database, the information about consumer behavior with respect to the first promotional offer. 
 instructions for displaying, via the computer user interface, a data dashboard that provides information about consumer behavior with respect to the one or more promotional offers; 
 instructions for receiving, via the computer user interface, second user input comprising a request to view a detailed report about consumer behavior with respect to the one or more promotional offers; and 
 instructions for providing the requested detailed report. 
   
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the system further comprises the database. 
     
     
         5 . An apparatus comprising a computer readable storage medium having encoded thereon a set of instructions that are executable by one or more computers to perform one or more operations, the set of instructions comprising:
 instructions for providing a computer user interface for interacting with a user;   instructions for providing, via the computer user interface, a mechanism for the user to describe a promotional offer;   instructions for receiving, via the computer user interface, first user input comprising information describing the promotional offer;   instructions for creating, in a database, a first promotional offer record comprising at least some of the information describing the promotional offer;   instructions for identifying, in the database, a set of one or more promotional offer records, the set of promotional offer records comprising the first promotional offer record;   instructions for displaying, via the computer user interface, a list of the one or more promotional offer records;   instructions for providing, via the computer user interface, a mechanism for the user to manage the list of the one or more promotional offer records;   instructions for storing, in the database, information about consumer behavior with respect to one or more promotional offers;   instructions for receiving, via the computer user interface, third user input comprising redemption information about a first promotional offer;   instructions for updating, in the database, the information about consumer behavior with respect to the first promotional offer.   instructions for displaying, via the computer user interface, a data dashboard that provides information about consumer behavior with respect to the one or more promotional offers;   instructions for receiving, via the computer user interface, second user input comprising a request to view a detailed report about consumer behavior with respect to the one or more promotional offers; and   instructions for providing the requested detailed report.